Friday, October 27, 2006

Cuisines and I

This is probably something that no one expected from me, including myself, but I thought it was about time I wrote about it anyway.

As a rule I believe in the phrase "Eat to live". Except for a craving for a pasta or dosa or pizza now and then, food had never interested me, Neither cooking (Shudder!) nor eating.

Since I landed here though, I find myself obsessed with trying out cuisines from different parts of the world. It is a new and very enjoyable facet about myself that I have recently discovered. I

It all started when I was in SFO, cribbing about having had nothing but Indian food for almost 3 months and heartily sick of it... my friends therefore fed me different types of food and I was hooked. It is especially challenging for a veggie.

So here is a list of different cuisines I have tried so farThai - Pad Thai, Panang tofu, Red curry and a Thai ice tea - It was different. They seem to use a lot of coconut milk and tofu in their dishes to make up for the loss of meat American – I am calling this American for the lack of name to call it by. But we had soup and sandwich… would that be English cuisine? ? I have also tried doughnuts, bagels (this is actually mid-European) , burgers, onion rings, French fries etc.

Mexican – Enchiladas, Burritos, Tacos, Tostada, Quesillada (have I got the spelling right?) and the all-important tortilla Italian – Of course the Pasta and its different varieties like Penne, Spaghetti, Fusilli which when mixed with the olive oil and freshly ground pepper is perfecto and do not forget the Pizza (even if it is not exactly the Italian version of it. I hear the bread used in Italian Pizza is much thinner than what is generally used world around)…On a side note, the restaurant I went to, taught Italian in its rest rooms :-p

Chinese – Noodles and fried rice and Boy!!! They had this lovely chilli sauce that promises to blister the tongue… ummm!!! 情人 (thats chinese for yummy heheh)

Indian – Nothing needs to be said here.The stuff that I plan to eat in the very near future include

French – I hear there is something called a crepe that tastes good and gotta check it out Mediterranean – My friend has told me Cous Cous and Falafel are good.Singapore - Zi Cha, Tim Sum (was told to try it but not sure what they are… will let you know once I try)Ethiopian and Vegan – have been hearing a lot about itRussian – I hear they sweeten all their dishes.Turkish - No idea what it will have :-)English – Kedgeree (something like our kichdi)I have found a place where they have all these different food… and looking forward to go there soon…But my very next place to visit is the Taco bell :-p

Anyone with other ideas on vegetarian Cuisines... Do feel free to let me know. :-)

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

That's a yummy project!One more thing in the middle east: "Baklava"! It's a sweet and is too good!Another italian thing u can try out is:Parmigian(often eggplant for veggies). And while eating quesadilla, i would eat it with guacamole!! :-)

You could try a sushi (Japanese), but you might find only one kind of veggie sushi..the traditional ones are made with raw fish! Also, I went to a Korean restaurant...altho the place stinks of seafood (sorry meat-eaters), they have a dish called BiBimBaap which is good.-P

Ciao, its really nice to hear that u have tried so many cuisines. I havn't tried so many but still i can suggest you some in Italian for sure. Try Lasagna.. Yummy... There are many versions with meat and without.. The veggie versions are really great(I tried only veggie)... you can check out for - Lasagna con Bricole- Lasagna con spinachi and many more veg combi....Also try Ravioli and Gnocchi

@Ramesh: I have had Lasagna before and loved it, but will definitely check out ravioli and gnocchi.. thanks :-)

@Rashmi: Hey I had been to a greek restaurant last weekend and here are some more dishes i tried rice Pillafi ,Tzatziki ,humus, Spanikopita, falafel, pita bread, baklava, a cutlet kinda thingy whose name i forgot and another dish that was greek leaf wrapped around rice and 14 different seasonings but lasted like greek leaf wrapped around colgate toothpaste :-)